Prime Minister Narendra Modi who has adopted various methods in the past to reach out to people — from the “chai pe charcha (discussions over tea)” campaign ahead of the 2014 elections that brought him to power to a monthly radio broadcast — has taken to holding interactive sessions with BJP legislators during which he advises them on improving their governance skills and ability to connect with people.
The latest of these sessions was held in Bhopal on Sunday evening. According to sources in the party, the PM is likely to continue this exercise in other states too.
During the Bhopal interaction, which went on for two hours, Modi spoke on a variety of subjects: how he maintained contact with party workers and developed a bond with them; how the MLAs and MPs should keep their focus on their constituency’s development and formulate a master plan, and the need to maintain good health and fitness.
According to the BJP legislators in Madhya Pradesh who attended the session held over dinner, the PM also emphasised the importance of sharing meals with party workers, saying it was a good way of building a good rapport with them. “He talked about how he takes tiffin along with him when he goes to meet party workers and others in his constituency. Sharing his tiffin with them while talking to them about party activities and development works helped him improve the delivery of governance,” said an MLA.
The PM also spoke about the need to keep in touch with “party karyakartas (workers)” in the constituency. “It was nothing about politics but about governance and development,” said the MLA. Modi also urged them to develop a healthy and solid working relationship with officials, another MLA added. “He advised us not to fight with the officials. ‘You have to get the work done, so don’t fight with them but have friendship with them’ was his advice,” said the legislator.
Encouraging MLAs to interact with non-political people as well, Modi spoke of the importance of the need to focus on empowering women. “The PM wanted us to meet the women in our constituencies. He said we should visit the beneficiaries of schemes and motivate them to make the best use of Central programmes. He was saying how he had requested a beneficiary of the Ujjwala scheme to make tea for him using the gas stove,” said an MLA. The PM also urged the legislators to focus on building houses for women under the PM Awas Yojana.
Before this interaction, the PM interacted with BJP MLAs at similar sessions in Odisha in November and Maharashtra in January. Odisha BJP state president Manmohan Samal earlier described the interaction as “family-like”. “It was a very informal interaction like in a family, in a relaxed mood,” he said.
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In Maharashtra, Modi presented a list of dos and don’ts, using examples from his own life. The PM stressed that power and politics should be used to serve people and told his party colleagues they should undergo annual health check-ups and spend time with their families.
In his first two terms, Modi used to address BJP MPs at least once or twice during every session of Parliament, interacting with them in groups divided state-wise. These interactions were held mostly over dinners or lunches.
